Annual Report 2013

At Friends of the Earth International we argue that the world needs to move away from all dirty energies (not just fossil fuels) towards a just, sustainable and climate-safe energy system. Our vision is guided by the principle of energy sovereignty, which is the right of people to have access to energy and to choose sustainable energy sources and consumption patterns that will lead them towards truly sustainable societies. We believe that sovereignty is a fundamental human right. We work to empower people and communities to reclaim the rights and resources that have been taken from them by corporations and states who act in their name but in fact serve the interests of a few. This concept of sovereignty applies as much to other resources as it does to energy. That is why we are also advancing the principle of food sovereignty: the right of people to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound methods. Just as energy sovereignty is about empowering people rather than energy corporations, so food sovereignty is about feeding people instead of corporate profit. The idea of people and communities being in control of their resources presents a major threat to the corporate-dominated status quo that exists in many countries. This bold and challenging work often puts our activists in danger, because they are frequently threatened by those that benefit the most from the current system. That is why we have also prioritised supporting communities and environmental rights activists who are facing harassment, threats, imprisonment or even assassination at the hands of states and the private interests they often protect, simply for defending their land, their livelihoods and the health of our planet. People’s sovereignty is the foundation of the global grassroots environmental movement that we are building, and the vision of a peaceful and sustainable society in harmony with nature that we seek to realise.